Troubles, Alia?
by MentalKase
Summary: Alia discovers that she might not have as much time left as she'd like, lifewise. Oh yes, I suck at summaries. And titles.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One BAD NEWS 

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Rockman related. Durr.

Notes: I'm aware I have another one going, but I cannot think of anything to write. I'm probably going to scrap that one and focus on this one or... Another one - but that's for another day. Anyway, some if not all of the characters are going to be mildly if not totally OOC and most likely a bit or a lot AU. We'll see!  
For a bit of clarification, this takes place after Iris' demise and all that fun stuff. But before Axl.  
Just think of it as a bit of a bubble in time, or something.  
On with the fic.

Warning: This probably won't have a good ending, assuming I actually keep this going until the end.

* * *

Alia sat, cross-armed, in a chair, staring at the reploid infront of her. A nervous reploid - she didn't know him, but she did know that he was one of the medical staff in the Maverick Hunters' headquarters. She had been called in earlier that morning.

Yesterday she had went, complaining of a pain in her head. All she knew so far was that this meeting had something to do with that. But she didn't know what, and whatever it was, was worrying the reploid before her.

"Well, uh, miss Alia..." Stammered the reploid, fidgeting nervously. How did someone this... Unnerved make it on to the medical staff?

"Yes?" The navigator smiled politely, trying to calm the medical reploid down so that he could tell her whatever it was faster. It didn't work.

"Well, we have the results from your check-up, and, uh..." He paused again. This was getting a little bit annoying.

Alia sighed, leaning forward and putting her chin in her palm. "Just tell me, whatever it is. It can't be that bad, can it?" She was tired, and the annoying ache in her cranium was irritating her. She wanted to sleep...

Though the look the other reploid gave her worried her. He looked increasingly nervous. Almost as if he had bad news...

And he did. "We got the results. Yes. You have... Something in you, and it's quickly messing with your memories, your personality - everything. Deleting, corrupting; it's all a mess - you just don't notice it yet because it hasn't made any drastic changes," he blurted out, leaving Alia staring at him, stunned. "... We have reploids working to find a way to stop this, but so far... By the looks of it, if we can't come up with something soon..."

Moving a hand up to one of her eyes, Alia felt tears. She was getting ready to cry. If she understood this reploid right... She was, for the most part, dying.

The reploid continued. "... You'll only have until around tomorrow evening. Then, we estimate, the damages will become noticeable... You..." He sighed, shoulders slumping warily. "You won't be able to function right. You'll eventually shut down. Die."

Alia stared teary and wide-eyed at the medical reploid, mouthing 'why' over and over again for a few moments before her voice finally caught up with her. "H... How did this happen...?"

"We don't know..." Was all the reploid could offer. "We truly don't. We'll look into that aswell, after we find a way to stop and hopefully reverse this."

The navigator sniffed, wiping away now-falling tears with her hands. "I... I see. I'll be going now," she said, faintly above the volumn of a whisper. She stood and exited the little office in a daze, overwhelmed with the current news. She was probably going to die soon, unless they managed to come up with a way to stop this... Whatever it was. This news didn't settle with her well. The last thing on her To Do list was, of course, to die. Especially by unknown means, and... This soon.

At least, she figured, she had the good part of two days to do what she needed to do. Alia blushed despite herself when she thought of a few things she really, really did need to do. Obvious little things that she had to do if she wanted to leave thhe world with a sense of peace.

Taking a deep breath, and letting it out moments later, she futilely pinched herself. It wasn't a dream. From her experiences, she didn't dream - but it was worth a try. She looked up suddenly when she heard a familiar voice. Two, really. Hiding her despair behind a mask of smiles and happiness, she rid her face of as much evidence she could that she had been crying and straightened up.

She knew it probably was the wrong thing to do, tricking those two. They were her friends, and they deserved to know... But... How could she break it to them? That she was dying?

Alia rounded the corner only to be met with her two good friends, X and Zero. It was obvious she kind of... Liked X. 'Like' being a bit of an understatement. But like most oblivious couples, they didn't admit their 'like' of each other. Not at all.

Zero... Well, she didn't like him in the way she liked X, but she did like him as a friend. Of course.

The navigator smiled as brightly as she could as she passed them, hoping nither of the two would notice her or call her over. She didn't know whether or not she could keep up her little rouse long enough for a little chat.

Unfourtunately, she wasn't that lucky.

"Oh! Alia! Hey!" Zero waved at her. Technically, he was beckoning her towards them.

Sighing unnoticeably, she complied and went over to them. "Hello." Was all she said, in a somewhat strained, cheerful tone. She hoped they'd get the hint.

But, no, they wouldn't.

The blonde nudged his friend, bringing the blue boy back to reality. A few quiet whispers later, X hung his head in defeat and scratched the back of his head, nervous. Though, not as nervous as the medical reploid from before. Or as nervous as Alia was beginning to feel.

"Um, Alia..." X started, pausing to think over something. "I was wondering... Do you have plans for tomorrow night?" He looked to the navigator, hope and fear in his eyes.

What a nice question. Alia stared at her love-interest for a long, long moment. Why now! Of all times! Why did he have to ask such a question now...? Why did she have to get this... This cursed whatever-it-was, now! She felt her eyes beginning to sting. Tears. Fresh tears.

Yes, X, I do have plans for tomorrow night. What plans? Plans to DIE.

That's what she wanted to say.

Instead, she simply turned away from the two, now confused reploids and ran. She ran as quickly as she could. Towards her quarters, not stopping until she was inside, door locked. Safe.

Until, of course, the next evening.

* * *

More Notes: Now that I think of it... I'm so not continuing the other story. Unless I get really, really bored.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any characters in this fanfic. I don't own the game these characters come from, either.

* * *

It was only but a hour later before someone came a-knocking on Alia's door.

"Alia! What's wrong?" ... It was X.

Alia didn't look up from her nearly soaked pillow - instead, she tried burrowing her face into it even more, choking back sobs as X continued to try to get an answer. Eventually, though, he must have given up, as he seemed to have left.

For only about ten minutes. The doors opened and X stepped in, and some random reploid - probably a hacker - giggled quietly and sped off down the hall. Alia ignored the intrusion, looking up to see X only once the doors closed. "Alia...?"

Alia sniffed, sitting up and wiping at the tears in her eyes stubbornly. She didn't want to cry... At least, not infront of _him_. "What, X? What do you want...?" Her voice was strained. She looked to the mentioned blue reploid, who was frowning and looking at her in a most worried fashion. Alia would have thought that he looked quite cute, if it wasn't for her current situation.

"What's wrong?" X sat next to Alia, on her bed, looking her in the eyes. All he saw was fear - but... Fear of what? "Why were you crying?"

Looking away, Alia sighed. "It's... It's nothing X, just- just go." She seemed to content to leave it at that.

He didn't. X didn't show any signs of getting up and leaving her room any time soon. No, instead, he reached for her hand, head tilting to the side when she pulled it away. "It doesn't seem like 'nothing', to me. Tell me." X let his hand rest on her shoulder, instead.

Alia shook her head slightly, then stopped and seemed to consider something. She bit her lip to stop herself from letting out another torrent of tears, looking down to her lap, depressed. "X, I..." Alia stopped. How exactly was she to word this?

X growled softly at her hesitation. He was beginning to grow worried, and slightly impatient - he wanted to know what was going on with his friend. And his love interest.

"I don't know how to word it," Alia finally mumbled, looking to X. "It's hard..." Hard, to tell someone you love that you'll be gone before the next night, and that there was nothing that could be done about it.

"Then just... Say it. Put it bluntly." X rubbed her shoulder gently, trying to be as encouraging as he possibly could be.

Bluntly, huh? Alia could do that. A few tears slid from her eyes as she pulled her knees up to herself and hugged them. "X... I'm going to die tomorrow night..."

Needless to say X was stunned. Stunned so, that he was speechless. He simply watched Alia for any signs that she was joking... No luck.

"I went for a routine check-up, X." Alia's voice shook, but she tried her best at sounding calm. "The... The medic. He told me the results... I only have until tomorrow evening - tomorrow night at most..." She broke down after saying this. Sobbing, Alia tightly hugged X.

And all X could do was stare ahead, trying to make sense of this sudden mention of death, while trying to comfort Alia as best he could.


	3. Chapter 3

ah, here goes nothing. I forget when I typed this chapter up. xD; A while ago, I think... Anyway...

They awoke the next morning, wrapped in each other's arms. X, and Alia. Alia had woke up first, surprised - albeit pleasently so - when she noticed just who she was so close to. Then the events of the day before hit her...

Death. She was dying. This would effectively be her last day in this world, unless the medic's came up with a way to stop whatever it was that was destroying her so slowly. Not only that, but her head hurt - it felt like something was inside, trying to dig out through her metal skull.

At the navigator's whimpers, X awoke second. Though he was still sleepy, hoping the news had only been part of his dreams, sweet dreams tainted with one, gloomy thing...

"X..." Alia whispered, curling up against him. "My head... Hurts." Her voice was strained, pained, and held a bit of panic to it.

So the news hadn't just been fabricated. It had been real...

X sighed, sad, worried, mostly for Alia but also for himself. He loved the girl - really, he did, although he didn't really, outwardly show it. He didn't really know what he's do if she... If she really...

He hugged her closer, and she didn't resist - she liked the contact. It was reassurance that she was still alive, not just in a world of pain, not just stuck in her mind. That she was still able to feel something, that she was still functioning correctly - so far.

"Ahh!" That had hurt! Whatever it was it felt like something kicked her head from the inside! A sharp jolt of pain that made her vision white out for a second or two... That can't have been a good thing.

"What is it, Alia!?" X inquired, pulling away slightly to get a better look at the navigator - his navigator.

A panicked, pained whimper was all he got in reply. That, and an explosion - though it hadn't come from the room they were in.

It had come from outside, somewhere around the lobby...

... Mavericks. Bad timing. Really bad timing. They just had to launch some sort of attack on the Maverick Hunter HQ, now, of all times?!

X was torn between staying with Alia and his duties as a Hunter. He wanted to stay with her, to comfort her - but... What if they needed him out there...?

Well, either way, he sure as hell wasn't going to leave Alia alone. X sat up, bringing a pain-enveloped Alia with him. It was going to be difficult to manuever her through the halls like this... Especially if that attack had been anything drastic. Moreso if there had been a group of not-so easily dispatched Mavericks...

Nothing he couldn't handle. He had to stay confident, for both their sakes.

"X! What... What?" Alia mumbled, eyes closed and one hand to her head as X started to carefully get her out of the bed and onto her feet. He was there every step of the way for support, so she wouldn't fall back down again.

"Sorry... HQ is being attacked. I have to go help... But I don't want to chance leaving you alone, Alia," X explained, waiting for a second for her reply. The navigator nodded, understanding, and opened her eyes a little so she wouldn't be so much of a burden.

The two made their way to the door of Alia's room easily, opening it and stepping out. It didn't seem too bad... No... Wait.

What was that?

X looked down the hall one way, then the other way. Running... He heard running approaching their location. Quick, heavy foot-steps closing in on them from the left. Well, he knew which way they weren't going.

He turned to the right, half-dragging, half-leading the pain-filled navigator along with him. They weren't going to outpace whatever was coming, but he might as well try to get Alia to a safe place, right?

No chance.

The footsteps stopped abruptly and something whizzed past X's head. He turned slightly to see what it was - of course, it was a Maverick. A heavy-built thing that seemed to have been made for construction. Damn...

He turned back to Alia, muttering his next words quietly and urgently. "Continue on forwards and try to find help. There shouldn't be anything down that way." It was only logical - if they were coming from one way, and the corridor only went that one way - for the most part - then nothing hostile could be in that direction. Alia nodded, and he let go of her and turned to face the new enemy.


End file.
